The Iowa plain dealer. [volume] (New Oregon, Howard County, Iowa) 1867-1895, 1887-09-22
MAROONlNG--PIRACY

First Of all upon the list Of pirates
stands the bold Captain Avary. one Of
institutors of Narrowing, says Howard
Pyle. in Harper's for September. Him
we see but dimily. half hidden by the
glamouring mists Of legend and tradi-
ton. Others who came aftcrward out
stripped him far enough in their do
ings, but he stands pre-cminent as the
first of marooners of whom actual his
tory has been handed down to us of the
present day.
When the English. Dutch. and Span
ish entered into an alliance to suppress
buccanccrins. in the West Indies. Ger.
tain worthless of Bristol. in Old Eng
land, fitted out two vessels to assist in
this laudable project; for doubtless
Bristol trade suffered smartly from thu
Morgans and the L'Olonoises OF thai
old time. One of these vessels was
named the Duke, of which certain
Captain Gibson was the commander and
Avary the mate.
Away they sailed to the West Indies.
and there Avary became impressed by
the advantages offered by piracy, and
by the amount of good things that
were to be gained by very little striv-
ing.
One night the captain (who was one
Of those fellows nightly addicted to
punch). instead Of going ashore to
satnrate himself with rum at the ordin-
airy. had his drink in his cabin in. pri-
vatc. While he lay snoring away tho
effects of his rum in the cabin. Avary
and few other conspirators heavcd the
anchor very leisurcly. and sailed out Of
the harbor Of Corunna, and through the
midst of the allied fleet riding at anchor
in the darkness.
By-and-by. when the morning came. the
captain was awakened by the pitching
and tossing Of the vessel, the rattle and
clatter Of the tackle overhead, and the
noise of footsteps passing and repassing
hither and thither across the deck.
What's the matter?" bawls the
captain from his berth.
Nothing" says Avary, coolly.
Something's the matter with the
Ship" says the captain. Does she
drive? What weather il it?'
..Oh no." says Ayary; 1--we are at
sea-
AT sea?''
Come, Gomez saws Ayary: "I'l
tell you; you must know that I'm the
captain of the ship now, and you must
be packing from this here cabin. We
are bound to Madagascar, to make all
Of our fortunes. and il you're mind to
ship for the cruise, why. wen be glad
to have you, if you will be sober and
mind your own business; if not, there
is boat alongside, and I'll have you
set ashore"
The poor half-t:psy captain had nc
relish to 60 a-pirating under the com
mand of his back-sliding mate, so ou
of the ship he bundled, and away h.
rowed with four or five of the crew
who, like him, refused to join Will
their jolly shipmates.
The rest of them sailed away to tn,
East Indies. On his way Ayary pickle.
up couple of like kind with himself
two sloops off Madagascar. Will
these he sailed away to the coast o
India, and for time his name was los
in the obscurity of uncertain history
But only for time, for suddenly
famed out in a blaze of glory. 1t wa
reported that vessel belonging to tn
Great Mogul. laden with treasure AM
bearing the monarch's own daughte
upon a holy pilgrimage to Mecca (the,
being Mohammedans), had fallen il
with the pirates. and after short re
sistance had been surrendered, witt
the damsel. her court, and all the dia
monds, pearls, silk, silver, and gol,
aboard. It was rumored that th
Great Mogul, raging at the insult Of
fered to him through his own flesh AM
blood, had threatened to wipe out o
existence the few English settlement
scattered along the coast; whereat tn
honorable East India Company was il
pretty state of fuss and feathers
Rumor, growing with the telling, ha
it that Avary is going to marry the In
dian princess, willy-nilly. and will
turn rajah and eschew piracy as indie
cent. As for the treasure itself, Their
was no end to the extent to which i
grew as it passed from mouth t
mouth.
Cracking the nut of romance and ex
aggeration, we come to the kernel o
the story-that Avary did fall in witt
an Indian vessel laden Will
great treasure (and possibly with tn
Mogul's daughter), which he captured
and thereby gained vast prize.
Having concluded that be had earne'
enough money by the trade he hat
undertaken. he determined to retir
and live decently for the rest Of his lif
upon what he already had. As STE
toward this object. he set about cheat
ing his Madagascar partners out o
their share of what had been gained
He persuaded them to store all tn
treasure in his vessel, it being tn
largest of the three; and SO, having
safely in hand. he altered the course o
his ship one fine night, and when tn
morning came the Madagascar sloop
found themselves floating upon wild
ocean without a farthing Of the treasur
for which they had fought SO hard, an,
for which. they might whistle for al
the good it would do them.
At first Avary had a great part Of
mind to settle at Boston, in Massa
chusetts. aud had that little town becl
one whit less bleak and forbidding,
might have had the honor of being tn
home of this famous man. As il was
he did not like the looks of it, so h
sailed away to the eastward, to Ireland
where he settled himself at Biddeford
4 p 4